This summer, Arizona Optical Metrology has taken on several undergraduate and graduate student interns. Each intern has provided valuable contributions that we want to highlight. We interviewed each intern – their answers to our questions are below.
| 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 | Samuel Stivers | Dani Balicki | Gregory Nero (they/them/theirs) | |||
| 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻: | Pima Community College working on getting my degree in Mechanical Engineering and I’m on my third year of school. | I am a junior at the University of Arizona pursuing a Bachelor’s in Optical Science & Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. | Third year PhD student at the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences focusing on developing technologies to enable all-day wearable augmented reality displays. | |||
| 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸/𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹? | Indoor rock climbing and working on/talking about all sorts of car stuff with my friends. | I spend most of my free time sewing, playing the bass guitar, and reading science fiction or horror novels. (2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining are my all-time favorites!) | I really enjoy bicycling, listening to music, sewing & embroidery, going to concerts, writing, reading Murakami, and caring for my lovely plant children. | |||
| 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗢𝗠? | I intern for the Manufacturing department. | I intern for the Marketing department. | I intern for the Optical Engineering department. | |||
| 𝗜𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀? | My overall main tasks are building the stages for the CGHs, getting our product shipped out to the buyers, and make sure our inventory is up to date. | My main goal as an applications engineer intern is to learn the ins and outs of everything we do at AOM, then take that information and translate it into a medium that is easily digestible for the public, be that videos, photos, graphics, or social media posts. Most importantly, I provide valuable critique which enables Jake and Tyler to contend for who has the superior candy bowl. | I am characterizing the uniformity of and developing a process for reactive ion etching of large-area computer-generated phase holograms. | |||
| 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲? | I’ve learned a lot over the course of the internship, one of the top learning moments for me was seeing how much cooperation is needed to get things done. | Throughout my time at AOM, I’ve gained valuable knowledge and skills that will help me succeed in my future endeavors. I’m now familiar with holograms and their breadth of applications, more comfortable with the concept of diffraction having now seen it firsthand, and interested in learning more about optical metrology in general. The most valuable thing I’ve learned from this experience, however, is what a healthy and successful workplace looks like. The AOM family has created such a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere, it will be a hard standard for any future employers to beat! | I’ve become very familiar with the techniques required to etch and measure computer-generated phase holograms. I’ve also continued to learn that nothing ever goes exactly as you initially planned and that’s just part of the process. | |||
| 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂? | A personal highlight for me was seeing a real life application of what I’m aspiring to be, and what it takes to further myself to reach the same level that everyone else is at and more. | The highlight for me would be the Friday lunches. Jim and Chunyu are kind enough to provide lunch for us every Friday, and we all get to sit down and mingle over a meal. Often it’s the only time I get to see some of them, so it is always the highlight of my week. | In one of my favorite fantasy novels The Name of the Wind, the main character attends a university to learn about exciting kinds of magic. Some of this magic involves making otherworldly items in a workshop: tangible things with incredible properties. My summer in the cleanroom fabricating holograms felt exactly like that. |
Thanks for interning with us this summer!